10 Greatest Mountaineering Foot Care Merchandise

Leukotape is a sticky blister prevention tape with a robust zinc oxide adhesive that gained’t come off, even in very moist circumstances. It’s additionally breathable, so it may be safely worn by runners and backpackers for a number of days at a time. It’s finest used as a preventative barrier over potential scorching spots. Leukotape will not be supposed to be used on pre-existing blisters, nonetheless, as a result of the adhesive can pull off unfastened and damaged pores and skin. Whereas it comes on a roll, the easiest way to hold Leukotape in your first assist package is to pre-cut it into strips and fix it to the shiny paper (known as launch paper) that adhesive labels are hooked up to. Go into any UPS or FedEx workplace and so they’ll provide you with tons of the stuff without spending a dime. I’ve been utilizing Leukotape for years and nonetheless tape my heels earlier than day hikes and backpacking journeys.

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Amazon | Storage Grown Gear

Darn Robust’s Merino Wool Mountaineering Socks are the preferred socks utilized by hikers to stop blisters, wick moisture, and preserve your ft cool and comfy on the path. They’re additionally robust sufficient to face as much as the abrasive sand and grit that will get into path runners and mountaineering sneakers, which rapidly eats by means of different producers’ socks. They’re out there in every kind of colours, lengths, weights, and sizes, with and with out further cushioning. When backpacking, it’s vital to maintain a dry pair in reserve to sleep in to assist your ft recuperate after a protracted day of mountaineering. My favorites are their Hiker Micro Crew Cushion Socks and Hiker Boot Full Cushion Socks.

Out there from:
REI | Darn Robust

Soiled Woman Gaiters are low gaiters designed to maintain sticks, pebbles, sand, and different floor litter that you just kick up when mountaineering from entering into your path sneakers or boots, the place they’ll irritate your ft. They’re primarily used with path trainers and low to mid-ankle mountaineering sneakers. They’re ultralight, weighing lower than 2 ounces per pair, and are common with hikers as a result of they’re cheap and so they are available in every kind of untamed colours and printed patterns that allow you to categorical your self on the path. They don’t have a strap that runs below your mountaineering sneakers however connect to your laces with a hook and a velcro patch that your stick on the heel of your footwear. They’re not supposed for winter use and dry rapidly after they get moist.

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Soiled Woman Gaiters

Insoles have two large advantages: they assist help your arch which is vital when carrying a loaded backpack and lock your heels in place to stop extreme pronation or supination that may result in plantar fasciitis, a painful irritation of the heel that may put you on the sideline for weeks at a time. Superfeet makes one million completely different insoles, however the two hottest ones for hikers are Superfeet Carbon Insoles that are skinny sufficient to suit into low-volume path runners and mountaineering sneakers, and Superfeet Inexperienced Insoles, which have excessive arch help that’s finest worn in mountaineering boots.

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REI | Superfeet

Low cost and plentiful, Vaseline ointment is sweet for lowering the friction between your toes or between your footwear and ft which may result in blisters. It’s additionally helpful for treating dry and cracked pores and skin which is the precursor to a callous, by locking within the pores and skin’s pure moisture and serving to it to heal from inside. Vaseline is offered in a 1.7 oz journey measurement which is sufficiently small to hold or you’ll be able to repackage it in a small tub to hold with you. Vaseline additionally makes a wonderful firestarter when smeared on a cotton ball, one thing that different anti-friction powders and lotions can’t declare.

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Amazon | Walmart

Athlete’s Foot is a extremely contagious fungal an infection that impacts the pores and skin on the toes and leads to a scaly rash that itches like hell and could be very disagreeable. It’s simple to select up if you happen to go to public locations barefoot together with bathe stalls, locker rooms, or swimming swimming pools and thrives in scorching and sweaty closed footwear. Athletes’ foot is definitely handled with a prescription energy topical cream, like Lotrimin Extremely, however it’s a must to be vigilant and constant if you use it so as to remove the an infection or it would persist. Remedy normally takes a couple of week, though you might wish to proceed longer to ensure the fungus is totally eradicated. Lotrimin Extremely will also be used to deal with jock itch, one other frequent and ugly pores and skin irritation skilled by hikers and backpackers.

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Amazon | Walmart

The Victorinox Nail Clipper folds flat to maintain your toenails trimmed brief to stop them from banging in opposition to the entrance of your footwear, turning black, and falling off, which could be a painful course of. In addition they embody a rough folding file that can be utilized to file down thickened or flaking toenails which have grown away from the nailbed because of repeated nail trauma. That is fairly frequent amongst severe hikers, however the coarse file makes it simple to maintain them brief and flush with the highest of your toes to keep away from irritating them additional.

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Amazon

In contrast to conventional blister bandages, ENGO Blister Prevention Patches are adhesive patches which can be utilized on to your shoe, to not your pores and skin. They’re ultra-thin, 0.015 inches thick, so your shoe match is unchanged. Which means they last more (as much as 300 miles) and so they gained’t irritate your pores and skin. They’re additionally water resistant and keep hooked up even when they get moist. They work in all sorts of footwear from mountaineering boots to path runners, gown sneakers, and ski boots.  You possibly can trim them as wanted to stop blisters in your heels, toes, the ball of your foot, the facet of your foot, the arch, and many others. I found these about 10 years in the past and nonetheless use them at present.

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Amazon | Walmart

Band-Help Hydroseal Blister Cushion Bandages are hydrocolloid gel bandages which can be state-of-the-art for contemporary wound care. You should utilize them on popped or un-popped blisters. They supply a moist therapeutic surroundings whereas utilizing the physique’s personal moisture and enzymes to maintain the wound hydrated for correct wound therapeutic. They’re designed for use by themselves, with out using further antibiotic ointment, and you retain them repeatedly for days at a time whereas your blister heals. You possibly can inform that the method has begun after 24 hours, when the bandage plumps up a bit after absorbing your physique’s moisture.  They’re the very best remedy for blisters I’ve ever discovered that permits you to proceed mountaineering whereas letting a blister heal.

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Amazon | Walmart

The Professional-Tec Athletics PF Sleeve is a compression sleeve designed for plantar fasciitis that may considerably scale back your heel ache and preserve you on the path. Overuse accidents comparable to plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis can lead to important swelling within the foot, ankle, or decrease calf. Compression of those areas prevents fluid from accumulating in them and relieves the ache related to swelling. Compression additionally helps blood stream from the extremities again to the center by means of the venous system, growing the stream of contemporary oxygenated blood by means of damage websites, significantly the place blood stream is often poor just like the Achilles tendon and foot fascia. I’ve used this PF sleeve myself. It slides over your foot and gives added help for the arch of your foot. You possibly can put on a mountaineering sock over or below it and nonetheless put on your favourite footwear whereas it’s at work.

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REI | Amazon